(Almost) every Saturday we review all Kickstarter campaigns in the "Games" category ending in the next week. We do a quick write up on anything we find notable here. This is written from the perspective of people looking to buy games and game accessories that offer interesting mechanics or ideas. We prefer heavy strategy games, RPG Games, miniature-heavy games, and games with real-time mechanics as opposed to party games, children's games, or very light strategy games.

We Backed

Sometimes you have to put your money where your mouth is. These are the campaigns we backed in this batch.

This is the second printing of a game (7.4 BGG) released last year. It first came to my attention in a Shut Up and Sit Down review in May. It is designed by Jonathan Ying, who also designed Imperial Assault and Doom. In the game, you will be playing a shopkeeper who is stocking adventurers who are going out to battle enemies. You get the chance to use the money you acquire from adventurers to upgrade your shop. If you sell the right equipment to the right adventurer (allowing them to beat the baddy), then you get stars which act as VP at the end of the game.

Board Games

This is an artist/creator game with really nice art. The gameplay is another card duel, but with some interesting concepts. Players share and draw off a large shared deck and asymmetrical heroes that determine your powers in the game. What I really like here that I haven't seen in other card duel games is how they handle the mana ramp. Each turn your hero "levels" up giving them access to more powers and cards. Now, having this just happen at a flat rate isn't very interesting to me, but having two sides that level up based on what they're doing on their turns, that's a great idea.

A co-op card game to tackle the Pandemic theme, this game doesn't have very high production values on the art, but does look to have pretty interesting gameplay. The game is way more realistic and :"sciencey" than pandemic as you will be using chemical compounds to create cures for a variety of diseases.

This is a small-scale skirmish game where you will be focused only on a medium-sized battle. It looks to be about the scale of Mythic Battles, but with a more pure medieval fantasy theme.

The miniatures here are pretty awesome in a 90s comic book sort of aesthetic (hulking monsters with muscles inside muscles). About 80% of the page is about the miniatures, with a small section on the gameplay. I'm guessing this isn't going to be the best miniatures game, but you get a lot for your core pledge ($150 AU).

This is a second printing of this popular dungeon crawler (7.9 BGG). I'm already way over my August Kickstarter budget, so I can't back this one, but it looks great. It has the option to get a full set of painted miniatures, but it costs $150 for that all-in.

I love Alien Frontiers, but man do they run a lot of Kickstarters. This is a print of a "Deluxe Edition" of the Alien Frontiers first and only big expansion. This KS offers all the promos, mini expansions, and deluxe components in one spot. If you haven't gotten Alien Frontiers in your collection yet, what are you waiting for?

RPGs

This is a unique campaign setting for 5th Edition D&D where players take on the roles of Demi-Gods. The art here really stands out with full-color concept art for spells, archetypes, and settings. There's not much on how the games will actually play, but there's some nice touches like a soundtrack to use while playing the game. The campaign has done very well and funded double its goal.

This is a 1-20 full campaign for 5th Edition D&D. This is a pretty ambitious campaign which only really has a base product at $100. I love the enthusiasm and most of the art here, but this project is not going to meet its goal. There's just not enough detail here about what the game actually contains.

Miniatures

I covered these miniatures last time this campaign ran. Unfortunately, it didn't meet it's goal so it's relaunched, and may not meet it again, but I think the sculpts here are pretty neat and definitely out-of-the box. I especially like the Armadillio Shaman.

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*None of the campaigns mentioned here are sponsored or influenced via payment, prize or other means. If we know or have a connection to someone running the campaign, we will mention it in the campaign notes. If there is a campaign you think should be mentioned here, please e-mail us and tell us what makes it special and we'll review!